


Trapped in a masquerade

by Ischa



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Bisexuality, Boys Kissing, Clones, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Gen, M/M, Romance, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 15:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8496196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ischa/pseuds/Ischa
Summary: What if Bruce and his clone/twin worked it out, and started a new life as one person?What if they were both attracted to Jim Gordon?   At nineteen, Bruce was still clinging to his heterosexuality. Thomas had no illusions himself. He preferred his own sex. Bruce…Thomas had a theory that Bruce liked both men and women. He just had to admit it to himself. “I haven’t,” Bruce said after a long silence, stood up, and then brushed his fingertips over Thomas’ scar.Thomas swallowed and Bruce was gone before he could say anything clever.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: Icalynn. <3  
> I fell in love with Thomas while writing this, so there will be more of his and Bruce's adventures in the future.

~One~

“I’ll go as Frankenstein’s monster then,” Thomas said lightly. 

Alfred sighed as he stitched up Thomas' palm. It had been a stupid mistake and Thomas was angry at himself for it. 

Bruce frowned, his lips a flat pinched line. Thomas wanted to smooth it out with his thumb. 

“I’ll go as Frankenstein’s monster too then,” Bruce said.

“You don’t have to, or better yet, I don’t have to-”

“Don’t even start,” Bruce cut in. Since the day Thomas came back from his ride with Selina Kyle and Alfred had chewed him out, Bruce had always acted like the older brother. It had been nice when they were still fourteen, but now at nineteen it was getting a bit old. Thomas could take care of himself just fine. Today had been a lapse. “We should both be there. To mingle.”

“We are never both really there anyway,” Thomas said. Because they were playing one person. At first Thomas had tried to be Bruce, but soon they discovered it would be better to create a public persona that was a bit of him and part of Bruce. 

“Today we will mingle and be merry, right Alfred?” Bruce asked. 

Thomas scowled. It was a dirty move to involve Alfred and Bruce knew it. 

“Right, Master Bruce,” Alfred said, finishing the stitches on Thomas' hand. “There, Master Thomas, all done. Be more careful next time.”

“I didn’t even feel it,” Thomas said and Alfred sighed again. 

“That is why you have to be careful,” he replied, getting up. “Now, up you go, because I need to create a wonderful, or rather two, Frankenstein’s Monster costumes.”

Thomas nodded, got up from the stool and looked at Bruce. 

Bruce followed him up into the house. 

Thomas was glad to be upstairs in the kitchen again. He didn’t like the smell and cold of the cave. Bruce didn’t seem to mind, but Bruce was…Bruce. Thomas shrugged it off mentally and put the kettle on. 

Bruce was watching him like a hawk. Thomas rolled his eyes. “I won’t burn myself on the kettle. Stop fretting.”

“You used to do that,” Bruce said. 

“I don’t anymore,” Thomas replied. Whatever Hugo Strange did to him only suppressed his pain receptors. He could feel heat and cold, pressure too, but pain didn’t register as pain. It didn’t register at all. Which made it really easy to hurt himself. He had the scars to show for it too. 

“I worry,” Bruce said. 

“You should stop, if you worry you might talk yourself out of our goal.” 

Bruce nodded, grimly. They wanted to bring down the Court of Owls. They wanted to be a symbol, they wanted to help Gotham. They had a plan and they had the means. 

“I won’t,” Bruce said. “And I won’t stop worrying either.”

He smiled wryly and Thomas smiled back. Smiling came easy to Thomas, Bruce had to practice it in front of the mirror.  
Bruce got two mugs out and Thomas made tea. They sipped it in silence for a while. 

“So, Detective Gordon is coming too?” Thomas asked. 

“Of course he’s coming too, he’s been coming to the Halloween ball since the first time we decided to have it.”

“The year I moved in with you and Alfred,” Thomas said fondly. 

“And always with another woman,” Bruce said with a side-glance at Thomas. 

“I’ve noticed,” he replied. 

Bruce took a sip of his tea. 

Thomas didn’t really expect a reply to that. He had noticed too, that Jim Gordon was closer to Bruce’s heart than pretty much anyone. Except maybe Alfred or Thomas himself. But it had always been different with Alfred who had become first Bruce’s and then their parent. 

For a while they had dated Selina. Thomas got over his infatuation sooner than Bruce. Bruce still liked to meet up with her sometimes. 

“Thomas-”

Thomas laughed. “Could I ever seduce someone like him? Sure. Should I? No. One touch of his fingertips to my neck and the whole charade is off.”

“Been thinking about it a lot?” Bruce asked. 

“About what, Bruce?” Thomas answered, innocently. 

Bruce frowned. It was kind of cute. Thomas had always thought so. “About Jim Gordon’s fingertips on your skin.” Because Bruce wasn’t going to back down. 

“Haven’t you?” Thomas asked and wasn’t surprised at all, when there was no answer. 

At nineteen, Bruce was still clinging to his heterosexuality. Thomas had no illusions himself. He preferred his own sex. Bruce…Thomas had a theory that Bruce liked both men and women. He just had to admit it to himself. 

“I haven’t,” Bruce said after a long silence, stood up, and then brushed his fingertips over Thomas’ scar. 

Thomas swallowed and Bruce was gone before he could say anything clever.

With Bruce it was more often what he didn’t say. 

~+~

“Turtlenecks had always been my friend until now,” Thomas said, looking at himself in the mirror. 

The costume didn’t show too much skin, but Alfred reproduced his scar to put it on Bruce. They were identical again, at least as long as they didn’t take off their clothes. 

“It looks rather fetching,” Alfred said, adjusting this and that. Thomas let him. It was nice when Alfred fussed over him. Not always, but sometimes. 

“I like the hair,” Bruce said, tugging at the white streak at the front. 

Thomas smiled at him through the mirror. “Me too.” 

“You want to start this evening off?” Bruce asked. 

Thomas shook his head. “Nah, you are better at giving speeches.” 

“Am I?” Bruce replied. 

“Yes, you are, after all you’ve been doing it before I even came along,” Thomas said. 

“But now you can share my burden,” Bruce smiled. 

“I thought I was doing exactly that,” Thomas replied. Bruce frowned again and this time Thomas turned around and smoothed the frown with his thumb. “Better. Now be a fetching host and welcome all of these useless people into our home.” 

“They aren’t all useless,” Bruce said, ignoring Thomas’ gesture. 

“Go, I’ll be down in an hour, we can switch places in the upstairs bathroom.”

Bruce nodded. 

 

~Two~

“How is it going?” Thomas asked, adjusting his collar so it looked a bit crocked – like Bruce’s. 

“Too many people want to talk or dance or drink,” Bruce replied. 

“Has anyone groped you already?” 

Bruce made a face. “Someone tried to pinch my ass and someone succeeded in grabbing me by the collar.” 

“Who?” Thomas asked. 

“They were all wearing masks, it’s a secret,” Bruce answered playfully. 

“You just hope they try again, so I can share your pain,” Thomas said. 

“Maybe,” Bruce replied. 

Thomas was unreasonably glad that Bruce hadn’t pointed out the obvious there. “How do I look?”

“Like me? Like you?” Bruce said amused. 

“Good enough to eat then, if we can trust the gossip rags,” Thomas replied. 

“Yes,” Bruce said and made room so Thomas could leave the bathroom and join the party. 

~+~

It had been strange at first to be Bruce Wayne in public, but then, Thomas figured, it had been strange for Bruce to be Bruce Wayne too. Neither of them were that person, not fully anyway. 

He avoided a few women Bruce had been pursuing in the last few months. Nothing too serious. Just enough to keep the gossip magazines guessing. 

He wasn't interested in idle chatter with them. He stopped to talk to the Police Commissioner for a few minutes and then disappeared into the crowd of dancers. 

Here and there people tried to touch the scars to see how real they felt. Thomas always backed away, laughing when someone reached for his neck. Grabbing a pretty girl or a boy – Bruce Wayne was scandalous after all – and dragging them to the dance floor for a spin before he disappeared again.  
He was looking for Jim Gordon, but the detective was, it seemed, fashionably late tonight. The party had been going nearly three hours, when Thomas finally spotted Jim. He was wearing a suit and a wolf mask. Very beautiful and fascinating, Thomas thought. He wanted to touch it, to press his fingers to the soft looking fur. 

Jim Gordon slipped in with a group of other latecomers and Thomas nearly lost him in the crowd again. 

The clock told him he was due for another switch with Bruce, but he couldn’t leave just yet. Jim Gordon had just came in and Thomas wanted to talk to him. Bruce would have to wait. Thomas wasn’t feeling too bad about it. After all, it wasn’t like something could happen to Bruce Wayne at his own party, except of getting drunk, of course. 

“It seems, we’re both monsters today,” Thomas whispered into Jim’s ear when he finally caught up with him. 

Jim turned around and smiled. “You sneaked up on me.”

“It was hardly a challenge in a room full of people,” Thomas replied. 

“I’m used to people trying to sneak up on me. Room full of them or not,” Jim said. 

“You saying I’m very good then? Or was it just luck?” Thomas asked. 

Jim grinned. “With you I never know.” 

Thomas put his hand on Jim’s arm, he was feeling bold today. “Dance with me?”

“To cause a scandal?”

“No, for the joy of dancing with me,” Thomas said and then winced. Was that too forward? With any other person he would think not, with Jim he wasn’t sure.

“Are you a good dancer?” Jim teased. He was still hesitating. 

“Haven’t you seen me? I’m grace personified,” Thomas answered, holding his hand out. “With the mask no one will know it’s you.” Thomas added. He meant it as a reassurance, but it came out more like a challenge. 

Jim took it and pulled him to the dance floor. “You knew it was me,” Jim said once they found their rhythm. It was a slow song and Thomas wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. 

“I’ve known you for years, Jim. You knew it was me too,” Thomas replied. “Even with the mask and the hideous scars.”

“No one dresses as sharply as you, Bruce,” Jim replied. 

Thomas bit his lip. Even if he should ever be lucky enough to steal a kiss from Jim Gordon, Jim would always think he was kissing Bruce. Would never call Thomas by his real name. 

“I should slum it next time then,” Thomas replied. 

Jim smiled, spun him gently. “Alfred did a great job with the costume. The scars look real.” 

“Some of them are,” Thomas said. “Boys will be boys after all.” 

“Don’t I know it,” Jim replied. 

The song gave way to another and then another and it was nice, talking to Jim and being held by Jim. Spun around.  
Jim was smiling at him and Thomas wanted to kiss him, but they were in the middle of the dance floor. 

A woman tapped Jim’s shoulder, she looked vaguely familiar, and Thomas stepped away. “It seems I monopolized you, I apologize,” he said with a smile. 

“I enjoyed being monopolized by you, Bruce,” Jim replied, but he let go of Thomas’s hand and let Thomas slip away. 

~+~

“Having fun?” Bruce asked. 

“In fact I did,” Thomas replied. 

“And to think you didn’t want to come,” Bruce said. 

“I danced with Jim,” Thomas said and then told Bruce every detail because neither of them could slip up. They were living one life. 

“You flirted with Jim, and now I have to flirt with Jim too, so it doesn’t look suspicious,” Bruce said. 

“I don’t think it’s a hardship to flirt with Jim Gordon, Bruce,” Thomas replied. “You like him. You’ve always liked him.” 

“Not like you like him,” Bruce countered. 

“Right. Try not to slap him if he kisses you,” Thomas replied. 

“You think he’d like to kiss me?”

“Or me, us. What does it matter?”

Bruce frowned, took Thomas’ hand and squeezed gently. “Are you still happy with this arrangement?”

“Yes,” Thomas answered. “There is a higher goal here. I just want to live my life a bit too and – I guess you already know, even if I never told you, I’m not into women.” 

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Well, duh. Yeah, but we have to keep up appearances and I happen to like them.” 

“Good thing too,” Thomas said. 

“So…you want to pursue this, with Jim?” Bruce asked. It always sounded so awkward when he was talking about such things. 

Thomas shrugged. “If he’s open to the idea or drunk enough to go for it.”

“Thomas!” Bruce said, a bit scandalized. 

“It was a joke,” Thomas said. “Now go out there, I’m sure people are wondering and speculating what the hell you are up to and with whom.” 

This time it was Bruce who rolled his eyes, but he left Thomas alone and slipped out of the bathroom. 

~+~

Jim was on his way to getting tipsy when Thomas found him again. 

“I think some fresh air would do you some good,” Thomas said, grabbing Jim’s arm and steering him away from the crowd and the drinks. 

“Do you?”

“Yes, besides the gardens are spectacular. Have you see them already?” 

“To be honest,” Jim answered, “All the years I’ve come to this Halloween ball of yours, Mister Wayne, I have for some reason never seen the gardens.”

“What a shame,” Thomas said. “We have to fix that.” 

There were a few paths that no one but the people who lived at the manor knew and Thomas took Jim there, taking the beautifully decorated ones at first. 

“It’s a forest,” Jim said as they sat on a bench facing said forest. It was dark and foreboding and you could only faintly hear the music from the manor. 

“Sharp as ever, I see,” Thomas teased.

“I have my moments. I just meant, that this is a forest. You have your own forest.”

Thomas turned so he could face Jim. “And now I have my own wolf too,” he said gently and reached out to finally run his fingertips over the fake fur of the half-mask Jim was wearing. 

“You're not frightened,” Jim said. 

“But I'm shivering anyway,” Thomas whispered more to himself than to Jim, and then Jim grabbed his hand and looked at him. Thomas was sure he was going to laugh it off and push Thomas away gently, but instead he just stared and Thomas swallowed. 

“I always thought – the boys. That it was just for show.” 

“With the boys it is,” Thomas said. Jim was still holding his hand and his grip was tighter now and he was leaning in or pulling Thomas closer.

Or maybe Thomas was leaning in – like all these years ago when he had kissed Selina.  
This kiss was nothing like the dry press of lips with Selina. This was hot and wet and hungry. And to his surprise and delight the hunger wasn't only just his. 

Thomas broke the kiss to breathe. “Is that why you came alone this time? Why you-”

Jim cut him off by grabbing him by the neck and pulling him in again and Thomas shut up and let Jim devour his mouth. 

~+~

“You kissed Jim Gordon,” Bruce said once they were alone and the party was over. The cleanup crew would come tomorrow, but both he and Bruce would stay out of their way. Thomas was tired, but happy. 

“I did. I always go for what I really want,” Thomas replied. He could still feel the heat of Jim's lips and the pressure of Jim's fingers caressing his neck and – scar. Well, he just had to make sure it was always him getting physical with Jim.

“This could be dangerous, Thomas,” Bruce said. 

“Everything we do, could be dangerous, this is also fun and no one says you have to let him touch you- we'll just make sure it's always me he's dealing with. At least in a private setting.” 

Bruce sighed, but nodded his consent. “I doubt, anyway, that Jim Gordon wants to have an affair with a barely legal boy made public.”

Thomas thought Bruce might be right about that. 

 

~Three~

Thomas was still tired and bleary eyed, he hadn’t even had his first coffee yet, when the doorbell rang. 

He was still high on the kisses he shared with Jim Gordon the night before, and that was why he wasn’t more careful. He knew Alfred was supervising the cleanup crew in the other wing of the house, he had no idea where Bruce was, probably in that cave again, so he went to get the door. 

“Jim,” Thomas said, it was half shock, half delight to see Jim here in his normal clothes. And Thomas was wearing his pajamas. 

“Not what I expected you to wear,” Jim teased and grabbed him by the neck to pull him into a kiss. “You brushed your teeth.”

“I – yes, would you like to come in?” Thomas asked, a bit flustered. He never really had someone he had been into, just come by. Except for Selina, but Bruce had mostly dealt with her after, because Selina knew their secret. 

“Are you making coffee?” Jim asked. 

“Yes, but there are no donuts,” Thomas replied. 

Jim laughed and followed Thomas into the kitchen. “Alfred isn’t here?” 

“He’s dealing with the mess in the other wing. Clean up.”

“Ah, and you are left to fend for yourself,” Jim said sitting down at the kitchen table. 

“I’m perfectly capable of making my own coffee – and breakfast, in fact you’ll find out that I’m not the helpless little boy you knew.” 

“I know you aren’t the helpless little boy. When I think about it, you’ve never seemed that helpless to me, Bruce,” Jim said.  
Thomas winced, but covered it up by pouring coffee. “Thanks,” Jim said as Thomas handed a mug over to him. 

“There are leftovers from last night, if you are hungry,” Thomas offered. 

“No, thank you,” Jim said, taking a sip of his coffee and sighed 

Thomas turned to grab some breakfast for himself. He was starving. He always ate more than Bruce, but they developed pretty much the same anyway. 

“Long night?” Jim asked. 

“Yes? You were there?” Thomas answered. 

“I mean this,” Jim said and ran his fingers over the scar on his neck. 

Thomas shivered. “Oh-” He twisted away from Jim. “Yeah…I fell into bed as soon as we put you into a taxi and sent you home.”

“Hmm,” Jim said. 

“I did jerk off to all the things we could have been doing if you weren’t drunk first,” Thomas said, while he was making himself a sandwich. 

“I see how that had been a priority,” Jim replied. 

Thomas smiled, finished putting his sandwich together and sat down at the table facing Jim. “Not that I am not happy to see you, Jim, but why are you here? It’s early.” 

“For billionaires it’s early, for us normal people-”

Thomas scoffed, “Right.”

“As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I thought Alfred taught you some manners-”

“Maybe you should teach me some, Jim,” Thomas purred. 

“Bruce,” Jim chided. “Stop interrupting me.” 

“Or what? Say, do you use the handcuffs privately too? For some play?” 

“You thought about that last night?” Jim asked. 

“Maybe,” Thomas replied with a smile. 

Jim took a deep breath. “I am here because I thought we’d need to talk, but it seems you are completely fine with what had happened last night.”

Thomas nodded. “I want it to happen again. You want it to happen again. So…I think it should happen again and some more too. But I also know, that this can’t be made public any time soon. It would be too dangerous.” Mostly for Jim, Thomas thought, but he wasn’t going to tell Jim that. 

“We’re on the same page then, good,” Jim replied. 

“Date tonight?” Thomas asked. 

“Late shift tonight, tomorrow?” 

“Deal,” Thomas answered. 

“I’ll text you the details,” Jim said, finished his coffee and got up. He looked at Thomas and then grinned. “Kiss for the road?” 

Thomas was only too happy to oblige. 

~+~

“Jim,” Thomas said the next day when Alfred let Jim into the library. 

“I was at the office today,” Jim said. “Your office.”

“I know, I was there, we had a bagel,” Thomas replied. It had been Bruce, of course, but they were leading one life. Bruce had told him all about it. 

Jim frowned, but then visibly steeled himself. “Were you?”

“Jim – what is this about?” Thomas hoped it wasn’t about what he thought it was about. His mind flashed back to Selina all those years ago. She had found out in a matter of hours. 

“You,” Jim said. “Turn around.”

“Whatever for?” 

“Turn around Bruce,” Jim repeated. 

“You think you can just order me around?” Thomas asked. 

Jim’s lips were a thin line and Thomas hated it. It was all falling apart around him now. He could feel it. “I’m not ordering you around, Bruce.” 

“Fells that way,” Thomas said. “Maybe you should leave. Maybe this was a mistake after all.”

“You didn’t think that just twenty minutes ago.”

“Twenty minutes ago you weren’t ordering me around,” Thomas countered. 

“Twenty minutes ago I didn’t think you were lying to me, you and Bruce.” 

“I am Bruce!” 

“No, I think you’re not Bruce at all,” Jim said. “You know he kisses differently than you?” 

“I-” Thomas didn’t know what to say to that. No one had ever commented on it. 

“And when I slid my hand over his neck it was smooth, he wasn’t wearing a turtleneck.” 

“I changed my clothes- big deal. You don’t wear a suit at home,” Thomas said. Why was he still trying to save this lie? Because it became second nature to them? 

“Stop it,” Jim said frustrated, running a hand through his hair. “Just stop it. I’m pretty sure you and him are in it together. I just don’t get why.” 

Thomas sighed. “Because it’s easier to underestimate us, Jim, when people think there is only one of us. Bruce will be so mad I told you.” 

Jim’s eyes snapped to his. “And you always have an alibi.”

“Yes,” Thomas replied. 

“You can never get too close to someone,” Jim said. 

“Yes,” Thomas echoed. “I thought, I had more time to – be with you.” 

“And Bruce?”

“Wants me to be happy,” Thomas said. 

“That is not what I meant,” Jim replied. 

“I don’t want to speak for Bruce right now. I only want to speak for myself.”

“And who are you?” 

“Thomas. Wayne,” Thomas said. He had the insane urge to hold out his hand to Jim, but didn’t. 

“Thomas Wayne, like Bruce’s father.”

“I guess he was my father too, even if I never got to know him,” Thomas replied. 

“Bruce chose the name for you?”

“I chose the name for me, he said it would be an honor,” Thomas answered. 

“And he’s keeping you a secret.”

“We, Bruce and I, and Alfred-”

“Of course,” Jim said with a wry smile. 

“We are keeping it a secret.”

“Why?” 

“Because we want to help this city,” Thomas said. 

Jim kept silent for a while, thinking it all over. Thomas let him. “You two are dangerous boys.”

Thomas smiled. “Well…yes. And I hope we will become even more dangerous men.”

“I have no doubt,” Jim said. 

“So…where does that leave us?” 

“Trapped in a masquerade, I guess,” Jim answered. 

“So nothing is changing then? Because we were trapped in a masquerade before, Jim. That’s the reason you kissed me, or rather Bruce Wayne. How long have you had the hots for the young billionaire orphan by the way? Because I only noticed a few months ago.”

“I only let you notice a few months ago, when I saw Bruce Wayne looking at me in that certain way. Well, I thought it was Bruce, but now it seems it had been you all along.” 

It had been Bruce too, but Thomas wasn’t going to tell Jim that now. It had to come from Bruce, if Bruce ever wanted to pursue this too. Thomas was okay with sharing. It wouldn’t be anything new after all. 

“Does it make a difference that I am not Bruce Wayne?”

Jim had the courtesy to think about it before he answered. “No, I think not. But we do have to talk about this. You two need to come clean. I mean, except for the scar-”

“Scars,” Thomas cut in. “Scars, you’ll see them soon enough if I’m lucky that way.”

“Scars, then. You look the same, you act the same.”

“I’ll explain, I promise, Bruce too,” Thomas replied. 

“But not now,” Jim said. 

“Not now,” Thomas confirmed. 

“What are we going to do now?”

“I thought,” Thomas said, crossing over to Jim and grabbing him by his tie. “Some more of that hot making out we were so good at, at the party.”

“You thought it was hot?” Jim teased. 

“You don’t? If you don’t, we can definitely turn it up a notch,” Thomas said and kissed Jim hard. 

He had no illusions that this would be a smooth sail, but to be honest; he and Bruce never liked easy or smooth all that much.


End file.
